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The Brain That Wouldn't Die
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray A - America - Shout! Factory Review written by and copyright: Anthony Arrigo (17th January 2016). |
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The Film
 There’s a little ironic humor to be found in some of the old 50's sci-fi B-movies. Many of the ideas presented as crazy, mad science in those classic pictures are now reality, or at least close to it. Take, for example, the idea of transplants. Swapping limbs seemed a bit farfetched yet science was already giving it the old college try (it would be almost forty years before a hand was successfully transplanted); however, swapping heads? That was the stuff of future hope. Now here we are in 2016, and scientists have announced plans to perform the first human head transplant next December. The whole point of these old mad scientist films was to shock audiences with grotesque medical anomalies… but more often than not – especially by today’s standards – they’re just shockingly hilarious. This would explain why so many pop up on “Mystery Science Theater 3000” (1988-1999), which this film does - and Scream Factory has included that episode among the bonus features. “The Brain That Wouldn’t Die” (1962, also known as “The Black Door” during production and sometimes released as “The Head That Wouldn’t Die”) is the stuff of cheesy sci-fi legend. Dr. Bill Cortner (Jason Evers) pushes the boundaries of medical science beyond what his father (Bruce Brighton), also a surgeon, deems acceptable. Bill has no less ambition than to transplant human body parts from one host to another. He gets the opportunity to put his theories to the test after a horrific car crash leaves him barely scratched while his girlfriend, Jan (Virginia Leith) is decapitated, her headless body twitching in the car’s fiery wreckage. Bill absconds with the head to his countryside laboratory, where his assistant, Kurt (Leslie Daniels), is waiting. Kurt isn’t just an assistant, though - he’s also a patient, as evidenced by his malformed, gnarled little nub of a hand, the result of Bill’s early transplant attempt gone wrong. Another one of Bill’s failures resides in the closet: a mutant, too powerful and hideous to be let out of its locked cell. Bill gets Jan’s severed head hooked up to some tubes and liquids and then he… leaves. For the rest of the movie. Bill’s plan is to find a body for Jan, so as soon as he sees signs of life in her floating head – forget about, you know, talking to her to make sure everything is still working up there – he hits the road. For the rest of the film, Bill spends his time frequenting burlesque clubs and beauty contests searching for a butterface who can part with her better parts below. All the while Jan has completely revived and is absolutely seething at her current situation. Being just a head can’t be much fun. She’s got the brains, and whatever is in the closet has the bulk, so Jan begins to communicate with the hideous closet creature in hopes of hatching a plan that can get them both free. This movie is absolutely ridiculous through and through. It’s almost as though the filmmakers produced it for the sole purpose of providing comedic fodder. After rescuing and resuscitating Jan’s bodiless head Bill takes off to get her a smoking hot body. Jan, meanwhile, wakes up and almost immediately decides Bill is a scoundrel and she needs to get revenge on him. There is no sense of amazement upon learning she’s miraculously alive following that wreck (as only a head no less!), nor does she try to rationalize any of the decisions Bill has made. It’s just sort of like “Well, shit, here I am nothing more than a head and he’s out gallivanting around town. Better strategize with the mute hulking brute in the closet so we can both get revenge!” Speaking of which, some things are best left unseen… like the thing kept in the dark for most of this picture. My mind conjured up a thousand different iterations of what this speechless humanoid must look like – and exactly none of my fantasies were visualized once he made a grand entrance. Imagine Beldar Conehead dropped face first into a wood chipper and you can approximate what the make-up effects artists produced. Yowza. So there’s a whole lot of awful in this movie – so what? Does anyone watch these old 50's sci-fi films for their nuanced plotting and cutting edge special effects? God no. These movies are a blast because they harken back to a simpler time. Viewers are usually steeped in old Americana charm and classic Us vs. Them scenarios. It’s akin to enjoying an old-school Saturday matinee on your couch which, to me, is a perfectly fine recommendation.
Video
Presented for the first time in HD, the film’s black-and-white 1.66:1 1080p 24/fps AVC MPEG -4 encoded picture is a nice upgrade over previous DVD editions. Synapse’s release, for example, was windowboxed whereas this edition provides a better approximation of the OAR. The print used here is extremely clean, with only sporadic instances of white flecks popping up. Film grain resolves organically and is very fine. Contrast is very strong, too. Who knew such a notorious turkey could look so good?
Audio
An English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono track capably carries the film’s sound. There’s a subtle hiss present in some scenes, with a few little pops and crackles along the way. Dialogue is balanced well, though, and the score is nicely reproduced. There is an echo heard occasionally, probably due to low-rent sound capture on stage, but otherwise this is a perfectly fine track. Subtitles are included in English.
Extras
There is a nice collection of bonus features included here, with an audio commentary, an episode of MST3K, alternate footage, and promotional materials. The audio commentary with film historian & author Steve Haberman and Tony Sasso, who wrote a book on the making of this film, is more interesting than I had expected. For one thing, Haberman views the film with tongue planted firmly in cheek, while Sasso has such a clear reverence for the material you’d think he was watching a bonafide classic. The exchanges between the two are often funny, and both sides do well in providing useful information. “Mystery Science Theater 3000: “The Brain That Wouldn’t Die”” (480p) is a television episode that runs for 1 hour, 32 minutes and 25 seconds. If this show is your kind of humor, you’ll love this extra. Personally, I’ve never been a fan of this sort of comedy (talking heads riffing on movies), so this didn’t do much for me. Alternate model footage (1080p) runs for 1 minute and 26 seconds, this little tidbit features some additional nudity shot for the European market. It features no audio… not that most will notice. A photo gallery (1080p) runs for 3 minutes and 46 seconds. Finally, the film’s theatrical trailer (1080p) runs for 1 minute and 54 seconds.
Packaging
The single disc comes housed in a standard Blu-ray keep case.
Overall
If you’re into films of this variety, then this one absolutely deserves a spot on the shelf. If, however, you’re a bit more selective with old sci-fi pictures then maybe give it a rent first.
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